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The Alumni Blog
: stanford alumni

Recently, one of my best friends from college sent me a
photograph, with the subject line, "At Least You're Not That Girl
(Anymore)". It was a picture from 1992 - the two of us standing in
front of Branner right before our end-of-the-year party. At the
time, I thought I looked quite fetching. Newly permed and a vision
in a black sheath dress, the image in my head of myself that night
and the reality of this photograph were, dare I say, competitive.
Let's take a peek, shall we? (I've removed his face to save
face.)

Now, in my defense, the wind was particularly strong behind me
that day. Ahem. But, gust or no gust, that is one large head of
hair, lady. Honestly, my first reaction was, well, sheer
horror. Then I snorted, which I tend to do when I'm laughing
uncontrollably. Then there was that brief moment of "Dear God, this
photograph must be destroyed." Which is a sentiment I usually feel
w...

Have you ever met someone for the first time and—not in a
romantic or sexual way—inexplicably tumbled into a space-time
vortex of pure human-to-human connection? As you talk with this
stranger, a sense of urgency emerges, while simultaneously you lose
track of how many minutes have passed. There’s so much to
share! Your speech hastens, your gestures grow larger, your facial
expressions more elaborate. Then you find you’re interrupting
each other with gasps of, “Me, too!” and “You had
a similar experience?” and “Wow.” You feel
certain, even if you don’t really believe in reincarnation,
that you met this individual in a previous life.

Suddenly, the spell breaks. Sounds and sights from your current
reality come flooding back into your awareness. Your partner taps
you on the shoulder. “Can we go now, please?” he
groans, eyes rolling. Or you get to the front of the line at your
favorite local caf&eac...

Recent events around the world have once again demonstrated the
extreme importance of corporate governance and risk management to
our future well-being, and the need for training of effective board
members.

I founded The Board Director Training Institute of Japan (BDTI)
as a grass-roots, nonprofit foundation dedicated to the improvement
of corporate governance in Japan through simple training and
information sharing - the most effective and underutilized methods.
Our mission is to help revitalize Japan, raise awareness of
governance, and promote the domestic and cross-border dialogues
which at the end of the day will be the primary drivers of ESG
(environmental, social and governance) advances in Japan and
elsewhere. The world has a lot of work to do, if we are to
make governance work for a more sustainable world.

BDTI has been certified as a rare "public-interest organization"
by the Japanese government, and its founders and advisors are
...

What an amazing time for geeks! First, Stanford is ranked as the
2nd nerdiest college in the United States by Localicious
(http://www.local-icious.com/blog/10-nerdiest-american-colleges/).
Then, this week I was introduced to a new term which will forever
be cemented into the lexicon of my geeky life: "Adorkable."
Seriously? Adorkable? How have I missed this? Or rather, how did I
not coin this phrase years ago? Regardless, whatever FOX
intern/producer/writer coined the phrase to describe Zooey
Deschanel's character on the new sitcom New Girl is my new
hero.

For anyone who has watched the pilot and 2nd episode of New
Girl, you'll totally get what I'm talking about here. Zooey's
character is quirky, smart, geeky, prone to spilling and, well,
simply adorkable. With her glasses askew and a proclivity for
singing her own theme song ("It's Jess!"), Zooey's role captures
all that I love about geeks, dorks and nerds - the ability to be
completely self-effac...

Just this week, the United States National Science Foundation
released its annual report listing the "geekiest cities in
America." The findings were less than surprising. Hello, San
Francisco! Great to see you, San Mateo! How's the weather, Boston?
A few dark horses threw themselves in here and there (Nice to meet
you, Destin, Florida!), but for the most part the so-called
"geekiest" cities were just about where you'd expect them to be.
What was surprising about the report was the definition of "geek"
as detailed by the Foundation. According to them, a geek is "any
worker with a bachelor's level of knowledge and education in
science or engineering-related fields or workers in occupations
that require some degree of technical knowledge or training." Now,
granted, this definition of geek works specifically within the
parameters of the Foundation itself and is meant more as a broad
term for those engaged in the technical or scientific professions.
But then are they really geeks? Are...

With films like Race to Nowhere hyping up parental
hysteria about pressure, stress and competition, it's time to
take a step back and consider what is REALLY important for our
kids.

Think back to a time when your children were little, perhaps to
when they were in preschool. What did they like? Dinosaurs? Polly
Pocket dolls? Playing on the swings at the park? Super Mario
Bros.?

Whatever, odds are that you can very clearly picture
that child and his or her particular interests. You knew
what they liked to do, what they liked to eat, what they liked to
wear (or not wear). Bottom line, you KNEW your child.

And now you have a high schooler. What happened to that precious
child, the one that could name all the dinosaurs or who loved the
smell of rubber cement? The one who hated how socks felt on her
feet? Or who waited for the sound of passing trains?

When your first child leaves for college, there is a gaping hole
in your life. The child that you so carefully cared for and natured
for 18+ years is suddenly gone. When your second child
leaves home, the loss is less severe, since you know what to
expect.

When my youngest left for Stanford, I became a proverbial
‘empty nester.’ But, since we live just a baseball toss
from the University, the change was more one of degree than
substance. Somehow, the fact that home was just a few miles away
meant that the separation (at least for me) did not carry the agony
or grief of the first loss.

And then something begins to happen. The house that seemed
preternaturally quiet without the thumping sounds of hip hop music,
mad dashes out to school, friends coming and going, etc. suddenly
seems…peaceful. I could sleep in past 6:45 am. I could watch
what I wanted on TV. No more school lunches! And there was
less laundry. Lots less ...

In January, The
Unofficial Stanford Blog posted a picture of me handing out free
condoms in White Plaza to celebrate the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.
Excited to share the news, I sent out the link to family and
friends. Within a half an hour, I received a reply from my mom:
“Oh well, I guess my daughter won’t be
president.”

Some people might point
to my political views as the reason I would not get elected to
office; in fact, my gender is a more historically grounded reason
to believe I would not make it to an elected position. Besides the
fact the U.S has yet to elect a female president, only 17% of
Congress and 23% of state legislatures are women.